had resumed its pacing. Two of them used iron prods to keep the bear at bay, while the other two opened the door and tossed me in. I landed squarely on my face, and blinding pain stole my breath for a moment. When I managed to sit up, blood ran warm and sticky from my nose. I scooted to the far corner of the cage, away from the bear, which sniffed at the air before licking his lips in a disturbing and hungry manner. I shrank as tightly into the corner as I could. The bear snorted again—a snuffling, cute sound—and padded toward me with slow and measured steps. I jerked back, smacking my head smartly against the bars, and I closed my eyes for a moment, sucking in a lungful of air through clenched teeth.
The bear’s warm breath blew in my face, and I have to say it had a surprisingly pleasant odor. A large, wide tongue flicked out and licked my nose, cleaning the blood away, before going the extra mile to wash the rest of my face. I peeked through one eye and then the other. The bear retreated, giving me a view of his backside, not to mention gender, before curling up in a ball in the corner farthest from me. He sighed heavily and rested his chin on his huge paws, now and then whining like a nervous dog.
I pulled up my knees and examined the rope around my ankles. I’d been bound with Lyhtan hair, so freeing myself was out of the question. As for the cage, I kicked against it again and again, but after my tenth attempt, I threw in the towel. Like the rope that bound me, the cage held against my preternatural strength.
My cellmate stood, turned in a circle, and lay back down. He looked at me with a sad, hopeless expression, and a mewling sound escaped his vibrating lips. Once I was pretty sure he wasn’t going to eat me, I actually felt sorry for the poor thing. “What do you think they’re going to do to us?” I asked. He snorted and pawed at the grass.
The bear lumbered over to my corner of the cage and rubbed his cold, wet nose on my cheek before settling down beside me. I placed tentative fists on top of his massive head, bigger than two dinner plates set side by side. He sighed, and I wriggled my fingers free enough to scratch behind his ears.
While the two of us sat—me contemplating my current state, and the bear contemplating whatever bears think about—I took in my surroundings with perverse interest. This was the place where I would more than likely die. Maybe for good. If I wasn’t a run-of-the-mill Shaede, I doubted I could expect to pass into beautiful shadow for all eternity. So maybe my death would be better, or worse, depending on the circumstances. I hoped they’d kill me quickly, maybe a knife to the chest or an ax through my neck. I didn’t know if I could take a slow, painful death, and my pride demanded that I stand brave no matter the situation. I wanted to die like a warrior. A death Raif could be proud of.
From this far inland, the water was no longer visible. I smelled it all around me, a clean smell. Crisp. More like freshwater than the briny scent of Puget Sound. The landscape seemed as unnatural and out of place as I was in the human world. Set apart somehow, it reminded me of tales of Avalon. From the misty air surrounding the forest, I expected King Arthur himself to emerge, Excalibur in hand. Were we somewhere in the middle of Lake Washington? Mercer Island, maybe? Or had we, in fact, crossed through the mists to a different realm entirely?
I didn’t see the dark-haired teens again. But from time to time, I caught a movement in the corner of my eye, so quick that even with my superior sight, I couldn’t identify what had flitted past. Gone, too, was the foul stench of Lyhtans, as well as the bubble of space that usually pressed against me when they were near. I did, however, feel Tyler’s presence. And though I didn’t see him, I felt him as strongly as if he were sitting right next to me. I’d always been able to pick him out of a crowd. Perhaps he was somewhere near—watching and waiting.
With my back to the bars of the cage, I brought my bound wrists up to my forehead, massaging as best I could with my thumbs to ease the throbbing ache that refused to go away. All of the Lyhtan attacks, the threats, the taunts, and esoteric mentions of masters . . . Tyler had been behind it all. But why? It’s not like he’d had to chase me down. I’d been right by his side, ready and willing to do whatever task he laid out for me for five goddamned years. Not exactly hiding out. Or running away. And aside from the fact that Xander believed I was unique, the only Shaede ever to make the transformation by sheer will, I couldn’t think of any reason why Tyler would plot and plan. Coerce me into caring for him. And then take me prisoner.
What did he have to gain from all this? The Lyhtans were crazed, violent, jealous. Easy to manipulate. He’d no doubt promised them the moon in exchange for their services. It’s not like he could buy them off. Levi said Lyhtans didn’t have any use for money. So he’d made promises. Chaos, war, and the total annihilation of their enemies in exchange for a ready-made army. He was obviously using Azriel as well. If I had to guess, he’d lied to him too, promising things he had no intention of delivering. But what could Azriel deliver in exchange for Xander’s crown? The only answer made my stomach twist into knots. Perhaps Azriel had found me, kept me safe, and then led Tyler straight to me. Despite all of my speculation, I still didn’t have the answer to the most important question buzzing in my brain: What part was I to play in all of this? I had a feeling I didn’t really want to know.
Sitting in my cage with the large golden bear at my side, I watched the shadows I loved so much creep and crawl across the clearing as the sun traveled through the sky. Morning quickly turned to day and afternoon to twilight, making me anxious and terrified all at once. What would happen once the sun set? My answer: absolutely nothing. When night finally swallowed up the last trace of light, I hoped against hope I could become one with the darkness. But the Lyhtan hair that bound my wrists and ankles dashed any upbeat thought I might have had. Bound to my solid form, I was forced to sit and wait . . . and wait . . . and wait.
Only barely awake and still groggy, I noticed how content I felt. Like I was wrapped up in a fleecy blanket, I snuggled deeper toward the warmth, letting it banish the cold night air. As I became more aware, I realized the blanket was more furry than fuzzy, and then that my blanket rose and fell beneath me, beside me, all around me, really. Then my blanket snored, and I became more than fully aware that my cozy blanket was alive.
I stayed very still. One of his paws rested across my waist. I was caught in a real-life bear hug. Night had become morning once again. A light frost dusted the grass in the clearing like powdered sugar on a cake, but thanks to my living bear-skin rug, I hadn’t even noticed.
How long was I to remain a prisoner? Almost twenty-four hours had passed since my abduction, and I was still just as clueless about my fate as I had been yesterday. Where were the strange kids? Where were the Lyhtans? And, more important . . . where was Tyler? I almost hoped someone
The bear rolled away from me, and though the freedom of movement was a welcome relief, I would have liked for him to leave his pile of fur on top of me. He was waking as well. Perhaps he was wondering how much longer he had on this earth, just like I was.
The chill in the air burned off by slow degrees, and my black clothes drew the warmth of the sun. Signs of life—besides my furry companion—appeared minutes later. The fair-faced youngsters had returned.
The four that had hauled me here were accompanied by an additional five, and the significance of the number was not lost on me. Nine strange kids, guardians of nine gargoyle statues. I looked at the bear and jerked my chin in their direction. “Maybe they should just sacrifice those weird little things and let us go?”
The bear snorted, as if laughing at my attempt at humor, and then cried his mournful bear cry. “Yeah, I know,” I said. “Wish in one hand . . .” My furry friend gave a very pointed stare, as if saying,
They turned as a collective body. One of them smiled. And as the same collective body, they turned and walked away.
As the day wore on, the heat increased to a sweltering temperature. The Washington area wasn’t exactly a tropical climate, yet the air was warm and humid. Lucky for me, I didn’t mind the heat, but the bear lay panting and stretched out. “We need water!” I shouted to no one, and was answered by the frantic chatter of some kind of squirrel or bird. My throat burned with thirst, and I could only imagine how my furry friend was faring.
I longed to stand up straight. Stiff from lack of movement, my feet and hands constantly tingled. But every time I tried to rise, I tripped on my own bound limbs and tumbled without the use of my arms to break the fall. I tried to uncross my feet in their fetters, but the Lyhtan-hair rope held tight, and I was unable to loosen them even a
